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Jack Pschitt plays Shin Megami Tensei iOS

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Post by Cap'n Jack 26th February 2016, 7:20 pm

Shin Megami Tensei is the first game in the titular sub-series of the Megami Tensei franchise. However, the only reason that distinction needs to be made is because before this game, two games were released by Namco (which was called "Namcot" back then!) on the Famicom in the years 1987 and 1990, titled Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei and Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei II. "Megami Tensei" is Japanese and essentially translates to "Goddess Reincarnation", a reference to the plot of the first game, but that doesn't quite roll off the tongue, so for the sake of uniqueness, the series is still called Megami Tensei here in America. The first game was based on a novel of the same name written by Aya Nishitani, and the second game had an original story from the Tokyo-based developer, Atlus.

This is all back-ground information at this point, because the series really broke into its own with Shin Megami Tensei, released on the Super Famicom in 1992. "Shin" is a word in Japanese that can be spelled different ways to have different meanings. Usually it means "new", making this game's title translate to "New Goddess Reincarnation", which may or may not be a reference to this game's plot, depending on your interpretation. However, spelled another way, "Shin" was also a common prefix that was attached to games released on the Super Famicom, meaning something akin to "Super", making the title translate to "Super Goddess Reincarnation", which is so smarmy and sarcastic that I'm certain the pun was intentional on Atlus's part. With this game, Atlus decided to move on from their relationship with Namco (sorry, "Namcot") and publish the game themselves, which was a risky decision that ended up working out for the better, because the game was successful enough to build a brand for Atlus, who continues to develop and publish the games in this still-running franchise.

Shin Megami Tensei is the game I will be playing for y'all, however, not the original Super Famicom version, because 1) I don't own that version, 2) I don't own a Super Famicom, 3) I don't even know where I'd get a Super Famicom, 4) I don't even know if there's a difference between a Super Famicom and a Super Nintendo Entertainment System, 5) the original Super Famicom version of this game sells for like hundreds of dollars on Amazon, and 6) I don't speak Japanese. An English translation of an emulated, digital version of this game has been available from a group called Aeon Genesis since 2003, and many people consider that the "definitive version" of this game, but not even two years ago, Shin Megami Tensei finally received an English translation from Atlus themselves, utilizing some of the crew who translated Shin Megami Tensei IV. It's funny how these things work out sometimes.

Back in Japan, this game has gone through many iterations. The original Super Famicom version was released in 1992, then it was brought to the PC Engine ("Super Famicom" is to "SNES" as "PC Engine" is to "TurboGrafx-16") in 1993, then to the Sega Mega-CD ("Mega-CD" is to "Sega CD" as "PC Engine" is to "TurboGrafx-16" and "Super Famicom" is to "SNES") in 1994, then to the PlayStation in 2001 ("PlayStation" is to "purple" as "frog" is to... ? (Worth 5 points)), and then the Game Boy Advance in 2003 (on my birthday!). Finally, in 2012, the Game Boy Advance version was brought to iOS and Android platforms. The iOS version of the Game Boy Advance version, which uses the PlayStation version's music ("iOS" is to "Game Boy Advance" as "PlayStation" is to "my ass"), was translated into English and put on the North American App Store on March 18th, 2014. This is the version I am playing.

By the way, I figured out that I can take screen-shots in landscape mode! Good for you!

The game requires an iOS of 4.3 or higher, which is extremely lucky for me, because my iPhone 3GS is rockin' iOS 4.3.3! I bought the game for $8 in August of 2015, and finally finished my first play-through a few weeks ago. This play-through will be my second, so forgive me if I seem to know more than I let on over the course of this play-through, because, well, I do.

This game is worth every cent I spent and more, and if my play-through convinces you to go experience it yourself, I hope you fall in love with Atlus's franchise as deeply as I have. Back in August of 2015, this was the first Megami Tensei game I ever purchased, and now, not even a year later, I own 7 games in the franchise. That should be a testament to how meaningful and valuable these games have become to me. They combine refreshingly difficult role-playing game-play with thoughtful, mature stories about life, death, society, faith, and the relationships we forge with our fellow men.

Speaking of "mature" stories, I should mention that this game is rated "12+" on the App Store, mostly for its harsh language and semi-nudity. For some reason, the Japanese version is also available to purchase for those of you with Android devices (if you're willing to put up with a higher price tag and the fact that it's in Japanese), and the Google Play Store's algorithm has given the Japanese version an officially-endorsed ESRB rating of Mature, for reasons of Violence, Partial Nudity, Language, and Simulated Gambling. I'm not entirely sure where the "Gambling" comes from, but like I said, your main concern in regards to mature content is going to be language and nudity. If you follow this play-through far enough, you might see a couple of demon asses, and a few demons who look a bit too much like giant cocks (and I ain't talking about Cockatrice). Did I mention some rough language? That, too. Oh, and also, there's the fact that this game gives you the opportunity to fight and kill fictional representations of many sacred figures taken from the beliefs of many world religions and cultures, including those of Abrahamic, Judeo-Christian tradition. That, too.

Now that I have your attention, let's get to the game!

This is the first post of the thread, but consider this post an "Introduction" rather than a "Part 1". Over the week, I was able to capture about three chapters' worth of screens. However, uploading them to the Internet in order to post them, and then adding commentary to them, is an arduous process, so instead of giving you a real episode right now, I am merely giving you a "taste" of what is to come. Contained in the spoiler are screen-captures of the cinematic introduction that plays when you boot up the game. These ominous pictures are interspersed with text being typed out on a black screen, which I will be including. Enjoy the ominousness.

Spoiler:


Jack Pschitt plays Shin Megami Tensei iOS Fuannl

Please look forward to everything else I do for this thread!
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Post by Cap'n Jack 4th March 2016, 4:54 pm

Alright, it's time for me to actually start this up. I might even have more time to devote to this for a little while because SPRING BREAAAAAAAAAAAK! WOO! It's my first spring break as a college student, so of course I'm gonna spend it like any college freshman would! RECORDING SCREENSHOTS OF JAPANESE IPHONE GAMES! WOOOOO!

Now, with that said, I have no plans or ambitions for any kind of schedule for this game. It took me about 40-50 logged hours to beat it the first time, which is not especially long by Shin Megami Tensei standards (I know, right???), so I hope to take this play-through entirely to the end. Who knows if I actually will?

I think I'm going to put a week's gap between these updates. This is not a weekly release schedule, mind you; all I said was that a week sounds like a nice, rounded number. Maybe two. Maybe a month or two. Maybe the rest of the updates will never receive a Western release despite Nintendo being fully capable of... whoops, I'm getting off-track.

Without any further ado, let's begin Shin Megami Tensei on iOS!

Spoiler:

Thank you all for reading! Let's see where this takes us...
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Post by Guest 4th March 2016, 7:48 pm

JACK! Just a reminder that try to keep the screenshots SFW. I know how these games can go...

Heck, pixelated naked lady back might even be a problem...

...But anyway, really good so far! Dunsparce Approves
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Post by Cap'n Jack 4th March 2016, 8:09 pm

jokool wrote:JACK! Just a reminder that try to keep the screenshots SFW. I know how these games can go...

Heck, pixelated naked lady back might even be a problem...

...But anyway, really good so far! Dunsparce Approves

Jo, there's only so much common sense I can have left after spending 80 hours and counting with a game where the protagonist shoots himself in the head repeatedly to summon a giant green erection. Dogkekeke Jokes aside, I think it would be best if we all just make an agreement that this game is not appropriate for polite company and leave it at that. I'm happy to oblige if that's not satisfactory, of course.

Nevertheless, I'm glad you're enjoying it! I'm really excited to be sharing this game with everyone here at the Pit Stop. It's like this game, and this whole series, have fallen out of the sky for me to obsess over.
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Post by Caprizant 4th March 2016, 9:44 pm

Regarding our NSFW policy, it's actually one imposed by Forumotion that we like to play safe on because the worst-case scenario is deletion of the forum. :V

I'm not familiar with this series, though, so it's up to you to prepare for something like that. What you have so far seems within bounds.
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Post by Cap'n Jack 4th March 2016, 11:26 pm

Caprizant wrote:Regarding our NSFW policy, it's actually one imposed by Forumotion that we like to play safe on because the worst-case scenario is deletion of the forum. :V

I'm not familiar with this series, though, so it's up to you to prepare for something like that. What you have so far seems within bounds.

I understand. I think Mara (the big green cock monster) is in this game, but I never figured out how to fuse him, so the worst of it is probably out of the equation. Some of the demons may get a little racy, but I guess there's nothing I can do to convince America that polygonal heads exploding in bloody pieces is more objectionable than polygonal butts.
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Post by Guest 5th March 2016, 1:01 pm

It's actually France you'd need to convince anyway. Dreaming
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Post by Cap'n Jack 24th March 2016, 7:34 pm

Alright, I've been putting off Chapter 2 for a while now because I've been in a rotten mood as a result of my computer deleting its own audio driver or some shit that I don't understand, but hey, why do we play video games if not to escape reality for a moment?

In the face of computer issues that I am powerless to fix, I would rather place myself in an alternate history version of a 1990s Tokyo facing the imminent apocalypse, so with that, it's Chapter 2 of my play-through of Shin Megami Tensei!

Spoiler:

That was a lot to write, not to mention a lot of comedy to attempt! Don't expect an entry of this length for a long while. You'd better enjoy it!
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Post by Lief Katano 24th March 2016, 7:44 pm

i just want to state that, for the record, if you look at the official art the protagonist isn't of intermediate gender
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Post by Cap'n Jack 24th March 2016, 7:50 pm

Lief Katano wrote:i just want to state that, for the record, if you look at the official art the protagonist isn't of intermediate gender

Well, intermediate gender would mean that the protagonist is somewhere between male and female, whatever special snowflake lingo Tumblr has shat out for that, but if what you meant was undetermined gender, then you have a point.

English sucks, we should all move to Japan!
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Post by Cap'n Jack 31st March 2016, 5:58 pm

Prepare to be disappointed, everybody, because Chapter 3 is really really short! I don't know why I decided to make this one so short as I was recording it. Maybe I remembered all of the crazy stuff that's about to happen...

Us English majors call that "foreshadowing", which is English for "click-bait". It's Chapter 3 - "Another Dream About a Girl"!

Spoiler:

Sorry this chapter is so short! I might make up for it next chapter! I don't remember how long it is! Bye!
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Post by Cap'n Jack 9th April 2016, 12:31 am

To the dismay of everyone, this fourth chapter is a fair bit longer than last week's. If you need a recap, basically last week's chapter was spent sleeping after the insane crap-show that was chapter 2. Japanese high-schooler JACK had a dream about saving a girl named SOLAR from a bunch of devil worshipers (or whatever they were), which Mom mistook for just tossing and turning and calling out the name of the Doctor Next Door's daughter, whom apparently (and conveniently) is named SOLAR. In this chapter, the day is now October XY, 199X, and I'm going to go talk to the doctor's daughter for no nefarious reasons whatsoever, and also nothing scary and supernatural will happen, nope, certainly not.

Spoiler:
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Post by Cap'n Jack 22nd April 2016, 3:37 pm

I put off a week of this because I was pretty badly swamped with school work, and really, I still have a lot to do this week, but I managed to record a couple more chapters over this week and I noticed that Chapter 5 is pretty short, so here it is!

I guess it's pretty disappointing for a week's delay to add up to a shorter entry, but... man, I don't know why these chapters fluctuate in length so greatly other than that I call it where I feel there's a good stepping-off point. I'm tired and I can't do words too good today. On that note, here's Chapter 5, the one you can skip!

Spoiler:
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Post by Lief Katano 22nd April 2016, 4:07 pm

re: Save Points

The original version had the standard "hard save and if you die you lose all the progress that you made since then". Given ATLUS, it's safe to say that the quick-save feature's there because it's there for all mobile RPGs, and the "reload your save from the tile before the encounter you fucked up" bit's just a bonus.

So if you were playing the Super Famicom version like people who aren't SCRUBS do you'd be begging and pleading for SMTIV's continue system.
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Post by Cap'n Jack 22nd April 2016, 4:39 pm

Lief Katano wrote:re: Save Points

The original version had the standard "hard save and if you die you lose all the progress that you made since then". Given ATLUS, it's safe to say that the quick-save feature's there because it's there for all mobile RPGs, and the "reload your save from the tile before the encounter you fucked up" bit's just a bonus.

So if you were playing the Super Famicom version like people who aren't SCRUBS do you'd be begging and pleading for SMTIV's continue system.

To tell you the truth, I am being comically unfair to SMT IV. I once read a statement from David Cage (the guy behind Fahrenheit and Heavy Rain) where he said that video games shouldn't have "Game Over" screens, that instead a lose state should lead to another story thread. Not very many games are actually as hard-core about that design philosophy as Fahrenheit and Heavy Rain are, but it influenced the way I think about how games handle lose states, and actually, SMT IV really does make an effort to do something more than an arbitrary "Game Over, insert another coin", and for that it should be commended. When all is said and done though, the way it pans out is that I never save-scummed once in SMT I, and I quit the game and jumped right back into it from the 3DS Home menu like fifteen times when I was trying to kill the Minotaur. Save-scumming completely kills immersion, and SMT IV makes me want to do it, and I consider that a failure. The solution? Well, I could have manned up and taken Charon's fee, but because it took me so many attempts to kill the Minotaur, I'd have pretty much racked up a student loan debt by the time I finally did kill Minotaur (which was also the first attempt I made after doing some fusing for better demons, as it always goes with these game for me...). The second option would be to not make the Minotaur so absurdly difficult and saved it for a Hard difficulty.

As it stands right now, I've beaten SMT I, Devil Survivor 2, and Persona 3, and I currently have save files in Persona 4 and SMT IV. SMT I is by far the easiest of the bunch from my experience, and SMT IV, what I've played of it at least, is like a brick wall, as I said. I've heard the game gets easier after the beginning, which is true for a lot of these games, but man, the fact remains that so far, it's just not fun. Persona 3 and Devil Survivor 2 kicked my ass royally at certain points, but I knew exactly what I did wrong and it usually never took me more than two attempts to overcome any challenge those games presented to me (and I usually did everything on the first attempt, the way I like it), so usually, when I rise up to a challenge that SMT gives me and I prove my mad RPG skillz and beat it, I feel like an unstoppable bad-ass, and SMT gives me this feeling more strongly and more frequently than any other franchise of games. Occasionally though, stupid ridiculously difficult shit like detaining Kama in DeSu 2 or the Sleeping Table in P3 took me like eight million attempts, and I came out of those freakish difficulty spikes not feeling accomplished, but exasperated and just glad that I wouldn't be wasting my time any further. The Minotaur in SMT IV is the game's first real boss (Alraune and that crow lady are basically warm-ups, and I beat both of them pretty swiftly), and it does not bode well when the game's first real boss is one of these freakish difficulty spikes. It stopped being fun and simply became tiring watching my whole party get wrecked for the sixth or seventh time, with my thumb already pressing down on the Power button to close the game and escape to the Home menu.

EDIT: Just did the Challenge Quest where you kill the six hordes of Legions and stuff, and then got blind-sided because the surprise boss at the end is David who's a piece of shit with Mamudo and Blight. Save-scummed about seven thousand times at the mercy of the seemingly-random tendency for David and the horde of Legions to strike first even though they have no reason to because The Computer is a Cheating Bastard. Finally managed to kill David, and just like the Minotaur, I did not feel accomplished in the slightest, only that I happened to have been dealt a good hand by the RNG gods on that attempt. Then I went down below the bedrock and killed Medusa on my first attempt with no preparation whatsoever.

Make up your mind, SMT IV!
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